Christmas Eve
by Kuraun Kuraun
Summary: Just like any other seven year old, Kakashi believes in Santa Clause. Only he's learning a few interesting facts about Santa from his father, who finally gets to spend the holiday with his son. One shot KakashiSakumo


_**Author's Note:**_ I don't really remember where I got this idea. I guess it was one of those ideas that just pop into your head and you think, "Hey! Why don't I write that? It'd be cool!" So I put it together and got this as the finishing product. xD Over all, I hope everyone enjoys this one-shot as much as people did with Cookies, or maybe even more.

**Disclaimer:** I am gaining no profit, or anything for that matter, by writing this; so obviously I don't own _Naruto_ or any of its characters.

Konoha was covered in a fresh blanket of snow that Christmas eve. For once, Kakashi was grateful that he had Christmas off; the Hokage had given him the time off, stating that he needed to spend such a holiday meant for family with his father. He didn't know the point, though; each year he spent Christmas alone because he had no other family members beside his father, who was always on a mission on that day. Really all he'd be doing tonight and tomorrow would be spending the time sitting on the couch at home, eating whatever little thing he was able to cook (which wasn't much, after all how could a seven year old possibly cook a turkey?).

As he turned onto the vacant street, he could see his house coming into view. It was pitch black out, nearing almost eight o'clock and the snow was still falling freely, adding to the two feet of snow that happened to be on the ground. As he passed by his neighbor who currently had their grand-daughter, Rin staying with them, he saw the snow man he'd secretly watched her build earlier today still there with a pile of snow collecting around it. Her purple scarf was tightly wrapped around it, swaying with the wind gusts and the reindeer antlers flopping all over the place.

He opened the door to his house gloomily, knowing that he'd find a dark, cold, and empty house awaiting him. Instead though, when he opened the door he was greeted with the unfamiliar warmth that he hadn't felt since he'd been watched by Rin's grandmother over at her house. As he opened the door wider and stepped in, closing the door behind him slowly, he pulled off his ninja attire that consisted of just his sandals, hita'ate (which he left on), and his weapon pouches.

'_Maybe her grandmother just warmed up the house for me._' He tried to reason with himself. It seemed reasonable since they were neighbors, and his father was close friends with Rin's grandmother. After all, he _had_ asked her to check up on him at times since he was still a child.

Slowly he trudged through the hallway, entering into the living room with a cackling fire in the fire place. For the first time ever there was a large Christmas tree sitting in the corner that was always vacant, the same corner his mother had always told him was for when they had time to pull out a large Christmas tree - she had lied though, she was a ninja like Sakumo and didn't have time to do it.

The Christmas tree was there, though. '_She put up a Christmas tree for me on her own...?_'

Underneath the Christmas tree were presents too, and two stockings had 'Sakumo' and 'Kakashi' marked on them delicately. It was then that he began to walk quickly to the kitchen in the house. None of this seemed right - the Christmas tree, the presents, the stockings...

'_It couldn't be him...he's always working on Christmas. Kakashi, get a hold of yourself! Shinobi don't show such emotions..._'

As he entered through the kitchen, he saw a figure that was almost three times his size (that was only because he was a short seven year old, but Rin was so much shorter than him). There was a full plate of cookies on the counter beside his father, and he was still racking off freshly-baked cookies from the pan that had just been pulled out of the oven probably.

"Daddy...?" He was still a kid after all...maybe trying to hide such emotion was out of his league...

His father turned around, and for the first time in months, he looked happy to be home. "Kakashi...I didn't notice you back."

"Don't you have a mission?"

"The Hokage gave me a week off, thinking it was what you deserved." His father held the plate full of cookies in front of his chest as an offering. "Want to taste it to make sure it won't kill Santa Clause?"

He couldn't help but look at it uncertainly, hearing his father's comment. '_Is he trying to kill Santa Clause?_'

He never noticed his father's look as he scanned over the plate full of cookies. The aroma was too familiar for comfort, as the way they looked; of course Kakashi knew that it wasn't his mother that had baked them, after all dead people didn't suddenly pop up and claim they were going to bake cookies. Slowly, he chose one of the fresher cookies on the top that had just came out from the oven, and held it carefully in his hand so it wouldn't fall apart, and quickly stuffed them into his mouth because the heat radiating off of the cookies burnt his small, tiny hands.

"I finally found where your mother hid her recipe." His father smiled regretfully. "Does it bring back horrible memories?"

It did bring back memories of her death - he could almost picture her pale body on the stretcher lifelessly, his father glaring at a corpse of Earth nin responsible for her death (it was already a bloody sight for him to see, but at that time he hadn't tried to pull his father away from the corpse he was beating because he always yelled at anyone when he was in that state).

"No." He finally lied. He saw his father flash him a grin before ruffling his hair affectionately and look up at the clock mounted on the wall in the kitchen; keeping his grin, he set the plate full of cookies down, picked up Kakashi, and carried him upstairs to his bedroom.

"Just because you're a Chunin at such a young age doesn't mean you don't need your sleep like a regular seven-year-old would need." He told his son with a grin, playfully tossing him onto his bed. The mask less Chunin let out a giggle before pleading calmly, "Daddy! Couldn't I just stay up 'till nine-thirty tonight? Please?"

"Tell you what," The soon-to-be-Copy Nin's father said while his son changed into plain blue pajamas. "How about you help me get things ready? Someone has to make sure Santa Clause gets milk and cookies, after all..."

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and pouted silently. "Fine, but just _this once_."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi was awaken by a loud _thump_ from downstairs, followed by more. Curiosity overtaking him finally, he slowly slid out of his bed and crept across the room, opened the door, and walked out into the hallway and to the stairway.

'_What if it's Santa?_'

As Kakashi peeked downstairs, he saw his father down by Santa's cookies and milk. Just as it struck him what his father was doing, he ran down stairs quickly. "Daddy! Those cookies are for Santa!"

Sakumo stopped chewing as soon as Kakashi's voice rang through his ears, a chunk of the cookie he was eating still in his mouth. "Huh? Oh...Santa asked me to eat the rest of the cookies and drink the milk because...well...he learned he was lactose-intolerant."

Kakashi cocked his head to the side. " 'Lack-toes intodlerent'? Does the milk affect his toes or something?"

Sakumo let out a laugh. "No, it means he's allergic to milk."

"...Does that mean he can't have any jerky?"

"...I have no idea, why don't you ask him next year?"

"What's his excuse for not eating the cookies, then?" Kakashi challenged, staring at Sakumo suspiciously.

"...He said he got the stomach flu."

"The _stomach flu_? And he's...lack...um...that hard word..."

"Lactose intolerant?"

"Dad, how can you say that word?"

"Same way I can flip you over a couch with one arm."

"You can say that word because you're strong?" Kakashi suddenly had his hands on his hips like a mother. "Hey! Are you saying that I'm weak, then?"

"No, no, no! You'll be strong when you're older...you're just...smart for your age..."

His hands fell from his hips. "Really? In what subject?"

"..."

"What time is it, Father?"

"Three in the morning."

"No wonder why you're acting...hyper like Minato-sensei."

"Hey! We hyper-active men tend to be the ones that break the rules, but appear as the strongest!"

"You break rules?"

"How about we just go to bed now?" Sakumo suggested, before grabbing another cookie.

"Put the cookie down, Dad!"

"Never tell the 'Cookie Monster' to put down a cookie, child!"

"You're not the 'Cookie Monster', Dad. That's a lie!"

"Maybe I'm not the 'Cookie Monster', but I'm the 'Tickle Monster'."

As soon as the mask less Kakashi saw his father's grin, he ran upstairs with a speed that would put his sensei's **Body Flicker** jutsu to shame.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Christmas morning, Kakashi found fresh presents sitting under the Christmas tree, plus a note that Santa Clause had wrote, _"Next time put some chocolate into that milk! You're almost the last kid I drop presents off for, and by then I'm sick of the normal milk and cookies other kids put out!"_ He almost felt like the little kid he'd never gotten to be. He felt free to giggle and laugh when his father tickled him and when he joked that all he was going to find in his stocking was a lump of coal.

He was scraping off his plate that had his left over of breakfast, something his mother had successfully gotten them both in the habit of doing before she passed away just before she was able to see him come home with his hita'ate, when his father called from the living room, "Kakashi! Ready to open your presents?"

He slowly strolled into the living room, only to glance at the present being shoved into his hands with a curious expression. He immediately tore through the red wrapping paper, and held up a box of the new edition of kunai that'd been released a few weeks ago. "Where did you find these?"

"I have my ways, 'Kashi." Sakumo answered slyly with a smirk before ruffling his hair and placing another box into his hands. Kakashi tore through the rapping paper of his next gift, hugging his father when he found a book on jutsu for Chunin level Shinobi in his hands. The seven-year-old kept opening his presents, then dumped out his stocking to find most of it filled with candy (for a second there he wondered if it'd help him in battle if he distracted an enemy with a piece of candy) with the exception of kiddy toys and a small stuffed wolf that could easily fit into the palm of his hand.

"Kakashi, I have something for you." The White Fang led his son down into the basement. Kakashi followed his father until they came to a box with their ninja weapons, and pulled out the sword Kakashi had seen him walk away with strapped onto his back so many times before. Pulling it out of his sheath, Sakumo showed the sword to Kakashi for a few seconds before sliding it back in gently and handing it to his son. "Kakashi, this sword now belongs to you."

"But Father! This is--"

"This isn't mine anymore." He pushed the sword case into Kakashi's hands. "It now belongs to you."

His eyes were widened the whole time he clutched the sword close to him. It was heavy, but he would get used to it he guessed quickly. He felt his father take the sword back, but he wasn't thinking of him actually strapping it onto his back, adjusting the straps so that it could fit him properly.

"Thanks..." He said, trailing off and becoming speechless.

"Say Kakashi, what are you doing today?" His father asked him after a while of silence.

"Nothing...why?"

"I think it's about time I show you why I carry that sword around." 

_**Author's Note:**_ There you have it, my second one shot featuring Sakumo and Kakashi! I think Cookies might be a little better, but I think this was worth putting up on Fan Fiction as much; though I do hope it was worth reading.


End file.
